Controlling the Terrain

Control is an exciting puzzle in Modern right now, thanks to the unbanning of Jace, the Mind Sculptor. We’ve quickly gone past the phase where everyone thinks Jace is too degenerate for the format. The card has shown itself to be a pretty fair roleplayer in control decks, and the real question is what the best shell for it is. While everyone else is busy exploring various and variations, Guillame Matignon brought a very different take to the MOCS this past weekend:

The core of this deck is very similar to the control decks that we’ve become familiar with over the last couple of months. The difference is that you aren’t playing as pure a control game. You don’t have as many Logic Knots and Supreme Verdicts because Green lets you be somewhat more proactive.

Sakura-Tribe Elder is exactly what a control deck wants in this format. It’s an early play that gains you some life, ramps you a turn, and helps find basics so you can’t get crushed by Blood Moon. On top of this, you gain Nissa, Vastwood Seer and Courser of Kruphix, both of which help smooth your draw and buy you time to leverage your Jace endgame.

You still have a pretty standard suite of removal - Path to Exile is backed up by Bant Charm, which is one of the most flexible answers in the format if you’re willing to pay for it. Cryptic Command is your only hard counterspell, but Bant Charm can hit key cards in combo matchups and Remand is great in a deck that’s just trying to develop its mana and resolve haymakers.

If you’re looking for a more proactive take on control decks in this format, this seems like a great choice. You’ve got plenty of cards that stand up well against Bloodbraid Elf, as well as powerful and varied set of answers and haymakers. You have access to all the powerful sideboard cards that White offers, and Explore and Sakura-Tribe Elder give you an enormous edge in Jace mirrors.

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About Carlos Gutierrez

Carlos Gutierrez is an Associate Editor for Gathering Magic, a Commander and Pauper enthusiast, and a lover of all manner of wacky decks. By day, he works as a rocket scientist, but he spends his weekends hitting all his land drops and trying new board games, puzzles, and video games. You can find all of him sharing Commander craziness, baked goods, and other nerdy things on Twitter @cag5383.

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